


Lichtenberg Figures

by Operator Yaku (TheHonkmaster)



Series: Post-Zariman Backstory [1]
Category: Warframe
Genre: Child Death, Death, Mild Gore, Murder, Patricide, Violence, children in peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-19 16:33:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13708341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHonkmaster/pseuds/Operator%20Yaku





	Lichtenberg Figures

“The next Operator is permitted to step up to the range.”

Yaku’ took a deep breath, willing their Warframe to move forward. They were still getting used to the surrogate body even after half a year and marveled at how  _easy_  it was to manipulate their energy without feeling the strain on their physical body. The new training program tracked their progress and if they completed this test – designed to measure their energy output and to determine if they were using the frame to its fullest potential – they would start weapons training.

Yaku’ placed their hands – their Warframe’s hands – on the glowing section of the range wall in front of them. Around them, three more walls rose up to separate them from the rest of the Operators. The glowing section swelled, spreading across every surface visible to Yaku’, and a low tone rang out inside the makeshift room.

“Who are you?” a voice asked.

“I am Tenno,” Yaku’ replied coolly.

“What is your purpose?”

“To bring peace to the system.”

“State your designation and Warframe model.”

“Designation: E-1003-YA. Warframe: Volt.” Their voice sounded staticky, obscured by a modulator to protect their identity and further cement the idea that the Warframes – the Operators – were inhuman.

“You may proceed with the test.” The tone sounded again and the wall in front of Yaku’ descended into the ground. They stepped over the threshold into the range.

As a single shimmering form flickered into existence in front of them, Yaku’ looked inside of themself and sought out the coiling tendrils of energy. They’d noticed a difference in how the tendrils felt when they were commanding their Volt; they took on a jagged pattern and moved erratically, as though they were bolts of lightning. It unnerved Yaku’ even as they took hold of the tendrils and pushed the energy out through their Volt’s body.

Electricity popped between the Warframe and the solidified hologram in front of them. The image burst into shards of light, drifting to the ground. Almost immediately six more forms appeared, weapons in hand and already moving to surround the lone Volt.

Yaku’ ducked to avoid the first shot and threw a crackling shield out to their left. They sent out another bolt that rippled across a hologram’s body and jumped to the one beside it; both holograms exploded in a shower of sparks. Only four holograms remained: two to the left of Yaku’, behind their shield, and two more in front of them. Their gaze darted between the two groups.

_They’re too far apart to shock. I don’t want to use the last of my energy in case there are more after this, but… I don’t really have a choice,_ Yaku’ reasoned. They rolled out from behind cover and charged the nearest hologram, sliding between its legs. Their hand flicked out and grabbed the hologram’s ankle, yanking it off-balance. They didn’t let go even as it fell and they dragged it with them under the second nearest hologram, knocking that one over as well. The other two holograms, sensing that the Volt frame was no longer standing, raced towards Yaku’ and drew their batons. Yaku’ grinned as they came in range and released the hold on their energy.

Lightning snapped across the Volt’s body and raced forth with a deafening  _CRACK_. Blinding light filled the range, obscuring the forms within. A burning scent filled the air. Somewhere glass shattered. The waiting Operators gasped audibly as the overhead lights flickered, and almost as if the surge of electricity had caused it, the alarms went off.

“Operator E-1003-YA, your test is complete. You may begin weap–”

“E-1003-YA, leave the range and proceed to the nearest saferoom. There has been a security breach. Repeat, leave the range and proceed to the nearest saferoom. There has been a security breach,” another voice interrupted. The speaker seemed oddly calm for a security breach.

Yaku’ blinked away the spots in their vision and stood slowly.  _No congratulations? No impressed tone? I used everything! I did it!_  they thought, frowning.  _Maybe this is part of the test._

The walls around them descended to reveal an empty hallway – the rest of the Operators had already fled to safety. Yaku’ heard gunshots and they turned towards the sound, their curiosity piqued. They walked in the direction of the gunshots, grasping at the renewed tendrils of energy in case they needed to throw out a shield. 

——————————————————————————————  

“Where is my child!?” a voice demanded. The owner of the voice, a frantic man in his thirties, clutched the front of his coworker’s lab coat with one hand. In the other hand he held a prototyped heat sword. On the ground laid a Soma with half its clip empty.

“Unan, please! I don’t know who your child is anymore! They’ve got a designation now, they don’t have names! Please, Unan, let me go!” the coworker begged.

“Don’t tell me they don’t have a name! They have a name, and I gave it to them! Find them in the system, Tazi. I know you still have access to it!” Unan shook his coworker and shoved him towards the consoles lining the wall. Tazi watched the man in front of him with fear in his eyes until Unan took a step towards him; he turned and began typing quickly, barely slowing even when he felt the heat of the blade near his neck.

“How do you even know they survived? Vendry couldn’t,” Tazi pointed out, “and you always praised his mental fortitude.”

“Lyaké survived, I can feel it. Keep working.”

“How old were they?”

“Ten. Lyaké was ten when the accident happened.”

“Alright,” Tazi said, entering the designation *-10**-LY, “the system is looking for any designations that might match those variables. Unan, you know I can’t guarantee they’ll be in here. How do you know they didn’t give a different name? Almost a third of the Operators–”

“Don’t  _call_ them that!” Unan growled, bringing the heat sword closer to Tazi’s skin. “They are  _not_ an Operator. My child is Lyaké, not some Operator. Their name is Lyaké, do you understand me!?”

“Unan, I’m only saying that it’s possible that they aren’t in the system as Lyaké. I’m not saying that they’re dead, okay? I’m just– Unan, I’m only saying that they could be under a different name, but we’ll check the results because they just came up.” Tazi tapped on the console twice, bringing up the profiles of the four Operators whose designations met the search criteria. Each profile contained seven images: three and four for the head and full body, respectively, of each Operator. 

Not one of them was Unan’s child.

Unan lowered the heat sword as he stared at the images of the Operators. Tears welled up in his eyes and he wiped them away quickly, the weight of the truth descending heavily upon his shoulders. 

Tazi gave him a sympathetic look; after Unan lost his ex-husband, his best friend, on the Zariman, he hadn’t been the same. It wasn’t until he’d heard that the children were still alive that he threw himself into his work, studying the Operators – the Tenno – intensely and running tests. In the beginning Tazi suspected Unan was running genetic tests against himself to find Lyaké, and when he discovered Unan taking samples from himself his suspicions were confirmed. 

Tazi didn’t report Unan because he knew Unan needed to run the tests to survive mentally, but now he wished he had; perhaps they could’ve avoided this painful situation. “Unan? Is it possible that they gave a nickname?” he asked, fingers poised over the console.

“… _Yaku’-titi._  That’s what Vendry called them.” Unan’s eyes unfocused as the images disappeared. “Little sleepyhead, little dreamer…”

Mere seconds later, a single designation appeared on the console. Tazi pulled it up on the display. “E-1003-YA. Ten years old at the time of the accident, eleven years old presently. Their primary energy is electricity. They wield the Volt model. Is tha–”

“It’s them! Tazi, it’s them! Where is their pod!?” Unan exclaimed, gripping his coworker’s arm and shaking him excitedly. “We have to find them.”

“You set off the alarms, Unan, I don’t think–”

“We  _can._ We have to. Come on.”

“I hate that you’re dragging me into this.”

——————————————————————————————

Yaku’ traced the sound of the gunshots to the cryopod chambers. The guards stationed in front of the chambers were dead, the doors left wide open. The eleven-year-old crept into the chambers, their Volt’s electricity reined in to prevent any mishaps. 

Whatever security breach there was, it involved the Tenno in the E Chamber. Voices drifted down the corridor and Yaku’ followed the noise on padded feet. They readied a cluster of sparks in their right hand, crouching by the entrance to the E Chamber. They counted two voices and peeking around the corner confirmed it. Both wore lab coats, but only one had bloodstains and was holding weapons; the other held a tablet and was tapping at the primary console for the chamber.

As Yaku’ watched, a pod detached from the second-highest row and descended slowly. The man wearing the bloodstained lab coat elbowed his coworker. “Hurry up, Tazi!”

“I can only go so fast. The system has its limits and there  _are_ children in those pods, might I remind you, and that pod contains  _your_ child. Don’t rush me, Unan,” the other man hissed. The pod touched down and the man in the bloodstained lab coat – Unan – dashed towards it. Tazi followed and nudged him aside, kneeling to access the panel at its seam.

Yaku’ frowned, moving into the chamber. They drew themself up to their full height and gathered more sparks in their hand, ready to discharge them immediately. “You’re not supposed to be in here,” they said.

Unan turned and froze at the sight of the Volt Warframe. Tazi stopped typing into the panel, only to resume at Unan’s urging. “I’ll handle this,” Unan assured him, readjusting his grip on his weapons. “You won’t hurt us, Tenno.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You can’t. The Warframes are programmed to recognize Orokin and inhibit movement if you try to hurt us.”

Yaku’ tilted their head, the Volt following suit. “I’m not trying to hurt you, though, even if you’re telling the truth. I’m trying to protect the other Operators.”

“Unan, I got it. Do you want me to open it?” Tazi whispered, his hand hovering over the panel.

“Do it.”

“Don’t do it, Tazi,” Yaku’ told him, the sparks traveling up their arm and across their shoulders. Static appeared in their vision and they blinked furiously to clear it. This didn’t normally happen – what was different? Yaku’ allowed electricity to arc over the rest of their frame; perhaps releasing some tension would help. 

“You’re not going to discharge all the electricity, Tenno. You could kill your friends.”

“Actually, this is the E Chamber. We’re all immune to electrocution. It’d just kill you,” they said, a grin in their words. “Do you want to take that risk?”

“Do you?” Unan countered, raising his Soma. “Tell me something, Tenno: do you remember your parents? Your friends, prior to the Zariman? Do you remember anything at all before the failed Void jump?”

“I don’t need to. That’s in the past. My purpose is to bring peace to the system, and you’re standing in the way of that peace.”

“Unan, do you want me to open it or not?” Tazi muttered, still hunched over beside the panel.

“Not yet, Tazi. Tenno, how old are you? You’re probably pretty young. Thirteen? Fourteen?”

“…I’m eleven.”

That information seemed to stun Unan, if only just. More static clouded Yaku’’s vision and they shook their head. It was almost as if… as if every time Tazi’s hand moved closer to the panel, it…

“Tazi, open–”

“Don’t open it!” Yaku’ screamed, the electricity swelling to cover their Warframe and jumping higher. If they discharged now the force of the blast would shatter several pods’ coverings; they needed to find somewhere to discharge safely before it became too much.

“Why are you doing this!?” they cried, their optics focused on Unan. “Why are you opening pods!? What makes you think you can!?”

“My child is in there, Tenno. I want to rescue my child from this place! I already lost my ex-husband and I thought I lost my child! Don’t you understand!? I just want my child to be safe! Open it, Tazi!” Unan barked, raising the Soma. 

Yaku’ charged Unan with a roar, the electricity covering their Volt in deep purple and gold. The pod’s covering parted and static filled their vision. A single shot rang out. The frame dropped mid-charge.

The explosion rocked the E Chamber to its core.

——————————————————————————————

Yaku’ awoke to the hiss of steam and crackling flames. They groaned and sat up despite the protesting of their body, glancing around. Two bodies, both wearing lab coats, looked as if they had been thrown by some force. One shifted and rolled over, hands moving to cover a face that struck a familiar chord with the preteen.

The memories of what happened just before waking hit Yaku’ like a meteorite. They struggled to climb out of their pod and crumpled to the ground in a heap of unresponsive limbs. A year of not using their physical limbs had taken its toll; their cognitive relay, gifted to them at the beginning of their training so they could get used to walking again, flickered weakly for several seconds before the connection stabilized.

Yaku’ rose on wobbly legs and examined the chamber around them. Dozens of pods lay broken and shattered. Dozens more had lost power and the Tenno inside were already dead, their life support destroyed. The eleven-year-old stood stunned by the sheer volume of the dead and by the fact that they had a hand in causing it.

“Tazi… Tazi, are you alive?” The surviving man had gotten to his knees and was shaking the body beside him. “Shit…”

Yaku’ turned and fixed their gaze on Unan.  _“You!”_ they roared, thundering towards him. “You did this! You  _murderer!”_

“Lyaké!? Lyaké, wait–” Unan started, scrambling away from his child. 

Yaku’ grabbed him by the throat and pulled him face-to-face with them, sparks snapping between the two. “You really thought you could get away with this!? You thought you were above it all, huh!?” they demanded, pressing the palm of their free hand to Unan’s chest. “You can’t interfere with the peace of the system! You’re going to bring ruin down upon us all unless _I_  stop you! Look how many Tenno you’ve killed, how many guardians you’ve stolen from us! You  _fucking murderer!”_ they snarled. Pure Void energy blasted a hole clean through Unan’s chest and he gripped his child’s wrist.

“Lyaké,  _Yaku’-titi,_ I’m–” he gasped, choking on his own blood, “–your father!”

_“I don’t care.”_ Yaku’ dropped the man and watched the light fade from his eyes. “You’re a  _murderer.”_


End file.
